Choose the size of the cratecarefully. You don’t want something too small, or your dog won’t be comfortable inside. A crate too big also doesn’t work because your dog can sleep in one end and poop and pee in the other.

Make the crate as comfortable as possible.

Put it in a room where you spend most of your time.

Remove the collar and the leash before your dog goes into the crate.

Choose two cue words – one for going into the crate and one for going out of the crate.

How to crate train a dog

I want to tell you that it’s possible to crate train your dog in just one weekend, but that would be a big fat lie. Every dog reacts differently to crate training.

Some might learn it in a few short days, while others will need weeks. You just have to be patient.

#1 Good things happen inside the crate

Get the crate inside the room without your dog seeing what’s going on.

Place some of his favorite toys inside and scatter tasty treats inside and outside the crate.

Let the dog into the room and act normal.

Rover will eventually investigate the new thing and eat some of the treats. Don’t react to this.

When the dog’s not looking, you should throw more treats around the crate.

You’re creating the illusion that the crate provides tasty things and the dog will start to venture inside without encouragement very soon.

Repeat for a few days.

Also, start feeding your dog inside the crate. This will make your dog associate the crate with good things.

#2 Introduce the cue word

Throw a delicious treat into the crate and wait for your dog to go inside to get it.

When he does it right, you say, for example, “Crate up,” praise him and give him one more treat.

Wait for the dog to exit the crate and say “Come out.” Don’t give him a treat.

Repeat many many times.

# 3 Stop using treats to entice your dog inside

Start by repeating the previous step a couple of times.

Then say your cue word, but don’t throw the treat.

Praise and reward your dog when he goes into the crate.

Use the “Come out” cue word and praise them when he does it.

Repeat many many times.

# 4 Time to close the door

Say your cue word and wait for the dog to respond.

Then praise him, reward him and close the door as if it’s not a big deal.

Give Rove some treat through the closed door.

Wait a few minutes and open the door.

Once the dog is comfortable with this step, you can start latching the door.

#5 Leaving the dog alone

Repeat the previous two steps as a warm-up.

When you close the door, take a couple of steps back and return.

Praise and reward your dog and open the door.

Repeat but start to extend the distance between you and the dog slowly.

Eventually, you’ll be able to leave your dog alone for a few minutes while you’re out of the room. And then you can work on extending the time.

As you can see, the steps are not difficult or complicated, and they don’t require much effort on your part. You can start crate training on the weekend and carry it on weekdays easily.

Crate training benefits

Here are some of the good things about crate training:

Speeds up house training

Keeps your puppy and your possessions safe

Makes transporting your dog easy

Gives your dog a secure place where they can sleep and relax

Crate training certainly has many benefits. But you should use it as little as possible. You wouldn’t want to live locked up for most of your life, would you? Well, your dog feels the same.

So if you can’t trust your dog to behave while you’re at work and you have to keep him crated, you must make up to him with exercise and plenty of play time.

How did you crate train your dog while working a full-time job? Was it difficult? Share your advice in the comments.

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About Grigorina S

I've grown up surrounded by animals - dogs, cats, cows, goats, sheep, and horses and that has shaped me into what I am today - a crazy cat lady who always has a place for one more cat (or a dog). I've got two female cats - Kitty and Roni, and two tomcats - Blacky and Shaggy, but I also feed my neighbors' cats when they come for a visit. I just can't say no to them.
I discovered that writing is my vocation early in my school years. Since then I've taken part in several literature contests - writing horror and fantasy short stories and novellas.
For the past three years, I've been an ELS teacher, pouring my heart into showing children and teenagers how important English is for their future and trying to educate them how to treat their pets with care.

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